First estimate of the time delay in HE 1104-1805

A&A 339 (1998) L73

ADS bibcode 1998A&A...339L..73W
astro-ph/9810181

L. Wisotzki [1], O. Wucknitz [1], S. Lopez [1], A.N. Sørensen [2]

  1. Hamburger Sternwarte, Gojenbergsweg 112, D-21029 Hamburg, Germany
  2. Copenhagen University Observatory, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

Abstract

We present first results from five years of spectrophotometric monitoring of the bright double QSO and gravitational lens HE 1104-1805. The quasar has varied considerably over this time, while the emission line fluxes appear to have remained constant. We have constructed monochromatic continuum light curves for components A and B, finding that B leads the variability. A quantitative analysis with the Pelt method gives a best estimate for the light travel time delay of about 0.73 years, although a value as low as 0.3 cannot yet be excluded. We discuss possible models for the QSO-lens configuration and use our measured time delay to predict the redshift of the lens, zd. Finding that most likely zd<=1, we can rule out the hitherto favoured values of zd=1.32 or 1.66. A new candidate is an absorption system at z=0.73, but the lens could also be an elliptical not detected in absorption.

Key words: quasars: individual: HE 1104-1805 quasars: general gravitational lensing



A&A 339 (1998) L73 (link to online journal)
ADS bibcode 1998A&A...339L..73W (link to ADS entry)
astro-ph/9810181 (link to e-print archive)



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